Congress leaders P. Chidambaram, K. Suresh, Anand Sharma, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jairam Ramesh and Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary met at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s residence on Tuesday to discuss the party’s strategy in Parliament during the Budget Session. Party President Rahul Gandhi was also expected to join the meeting that was the first one ahead of the crucial session, sources said. The Congress leaders are set to discuss the party’s stand on issues like ‘one nation, one election’, and triple talaq among others. Congress is the largest party in opposition, although it fell short of majority by two seats to get Leader of the Opposition post in the Lok Sabha. The source said that as the Congress is biggest opposition in Lok Sabha big responsibility lies on the party to play a key role to provide a strong opposition on the floor of the House. The party would also use the session to chalk out common agenda with like-minded parties. On Monday, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma had given a sense of party’s line — the government should end the ordinance culture and respect parliamentary process, important bills should be sent to Parliamentary Committees and then discussed in the house too, before being passed as laws. The source also said that the leaders are also likely to discuss the leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha. The party has earlier re-appointed Sonia Gandhi as Congress Parliamentary Party leader in the Lok Sabha for the second consecutive time. Sonia Gandhi has also been given the task to select the leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha.
